About Us

About Us

The mission of the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund is to end cash bail in Philadelphia. Until that day comes, we post bail for residents of Philadelphia who cannot afford to pay for their freedom. We work to bring to light the inequities of the use of cash bail in Philadelphia and advocate for the abolition of bail and pretrial detention in our city.​We know that Philadelphia jails are filled with people who spend weeks, months, or even years incarcerated while waiting for court, simply because they do not have the money to pay for their own freedom. Pretrial detention leads to higher rates of conviction, the pressure to accept guilty pleas, longer sentences, and traumatic disruption of lives including loss of jobs, housing, mental health supports, and devastated families. By paying bail, our fund supports individuals in remaining at home with their families and communities while fighting their cases.

The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund is run by a collective of volunteer grassroots organizers and active members of the community. We are committed to organizing with and for the people most directly impacted by the racist system of mass incarceration, criminalization and policing. We use a non-judgmental approach and do not make decisions solely based on a person’s charges. We respect an individual’s constitutional right to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. We invite those we've bailed out to lead and organize with us as they are able.

History

In May 2017, a group of grassroots organizers in Philadelphia came together as part of the National Mama’s Bail Out Day to give incarcerated mothers an opportunity to spend Mother’s Day at home with their families and to highlight the impact of inhumane and destructive bail practices on Black caregivers and communities. Thanks to an amazing outpouring of support, and the strong leadership of national Black-led organizing, in less than a week we were able to raise enough money locally to bring 13 women home from Riverside Correctional Facility to spend Mother’s Day with their families.

We continued to bail out Black women for many months. As we connected with and learned from those we bailed out, we recognized the need to continue freeing people held on bail as we work to end pretrial detention in the long-term. We formally became a bail fund in November of 2017. From there, the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund was born as a way to secure people their freedom until we can end cash bail in Philadelphia.